This disclosure relates to personal equipment suspension systems for manual load bearing. More particularly, it relates to personal equipment suspension systems with active support to the lumbar region of the user.
Personal equipment suspension systems for personal load bearing take many forms. Generally, they surround the user's body and transfer load to the user's torso at the hip area. They find application in a wide variety of disciplines including construction, medical-EMS, military, law enforcement, sports, and outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, climbing, gardening and the like.
Lumbar suspension system embodiments can be utilized for specific “lumbar” support, as is typically provided for warehouse, dock or construction workers and load lifting occupations or athletic activities. Current lumbar belt supports are constructed from elastic bands and may include a latching belt. These current products support the body by applying the belt tightly around the user and greatly increasing the hoop stress or hydrostatic pressure in the abdomen as to offset the necessary support for the lumbar region of the body.
Personal support belts for use in load lifting environments or tool belts used in home improvement and construction are used to carry tools or other equipment for construction, landscape, telecommunications, or home improvement activities. Typically such belts consist of a belt of leather or woven fabric made from Nylon, or other polymer, and include attachment points for personal equipment or gear, or pouches to hold items such as a hammer, nails, or other job specific items.
The belt surrounds the waist of a user. In the most advanced form, such belts may also include a shoulder harness that helps support the load of the fully weighted belt and gear. The belt and shoulder harness do not offer the user any improved comfort or ergonomically designed lumbar support. Biomechanical research has shown the “S-Curve” or lumbar curvature known as lordosis is a natural position of the body when standing. This position acts to support the body and efficiently transfer loads through the body into the lower extremities. Under normal use of current belts, this natural position disappears as the loading causes the hips to rotate and produce additional strain on the lumbar muscular region. This strain increases user fatigue and discomfort.
Personal equipment suspension systems are employed in trekking, hiking, and other outdoor adventure activities for carrying of loads such as clothing and supply backpacks, or outdoor equipment including tents, cooking equipment or even watercraft.
Various arrangements exist for load distribution, reduction of impact or pressure points and protection of the user from discomfort or injury. Significant in this regard is the protection of the spine, and the lumbar area. It is considered desirable to provide support for, or distribution from, a carried load, to the user's torso, at or near the lumbar area, that is, immediately above the user's waist at the back of the spine. Known arrangements for providing such capability are inflatable or liquid filled, with the attendant frailties of bladder type devices.
In carrying unusually bulky or heavy loads such as camping or climbing equipment, tents, cooking equipment, and even canoes or similar watercraft, distribution and balance of the carried load are important attributes of a personal transport system. Often, such equipment delivers the carried load through spaced vertical spines or structural tubes connected to an associated support belt. Traversing rough terrain with such equipment sometimes results in unbalance or other difficulties. Moreover, undue fatigue and/or strain is often associated with the task.